


Cry of the Shadow

by SIFoote (TheMayWaters)



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Ahomine, Angst, F/M, Kagami gets a girlfriend and breaks Kuroko's heart, Kuroko gets a boyfriend, M/M, Slow Burn, There's really awkward semi-sex scenes that even I don't enjoy reading, also he's an idiot, aomine is a good friend, eventually they end up together, i don't know what to tag, it's 51 pages long in word, kagami needs to evaluate his life, kuroko is banned from drinking alcohol, now it's a one-shot, supportive kiseki, that's the point, this was originally meant to be a multi-chapter fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-26
Updated: 2019-07-26
Packaged: 2020-07-19 23:47:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19982560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMayWaters/pseuds/SIFoote
Summary: Japan contracted the Kiseki no Sedai to play for the national basketball team. Kuroko and Kagami share an apartment in Tokyo. Everyone keeps telling Kuroko that he needs to confess his eight years’ worth of feelings for the red head. If only it were that easy.





	Cry of the Shadow

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally meant to be a multi-chapter fic and now it's a one-shot that you can read in one go. Enjoy.

“Tetsu-kun, you need to tell Kagamin how you feel.” Aomine Satsuki chided. They sat on the couch in the Aomine apartment in the heart of Tokyo City. “You share an apartment with him. It’s torture for you every day.”

“It’s not torture,” Kuroko Tetsuya denied too quickly for it to be believable. “How are you supposed to tell your friend of eight years that you’re in love with them and have been for all of those same eight years?”

“That’s exactly what you tell him, Tetsu.” Aomine Daiki bent around the marble island in the kitchen to get a more head-on look at his friend from middle school. Kuroko avoided his menacing gaze.

“I can’t.” He leaned forward and pressed his face into his hands. “I don’t even know if he’s gay. I can’t be rejected.”

“You do have to take into consideration the dynamic on Japan’s national basketball team.” Satsuki pressed a finger to her pink bottom lip. The large diamond on her wedding ring glinted in the sunlight filtering from the balcony.

“Tetsu can always just pass the ball to me instead of him. Or the other guys, they won’t mind.”

“I don’t think Aida-san would go for that.” Kuroko let out a short laugh.

“It would be fun to try it out for one practice. Your passes are better than Akashi’s.” Aomine stretched his hands over his head. “Don’t tell him I said that.”

“Texting him right now.” Kuroko pulled his smart phone from his pocket.

“No!” Aomine dived toward him and tried to wrestle the phone away.

“Shit, one of us accidently hit the call button.”

“Tetsuya?”

“Hi, Akashi-kun.”

“Why are you calling?”

“Sorry, it was an accident while Aomine-kun and I were teasing each other.”

“While you’re on the line Akashi-kun,” Satsuki started.

“Yes?”

“What is your opinion on Tetsu-kun confessing to Kagamin?”

The line was quiet for several moments. “Did Tetsuya finally decide to do it then? I always thought he would confess during their high school years.”

Kuroko groaned and laid face down on the couch. “How does everyone know except for Kagami-kun?”

“Good luck, Tetsuya. I have to do some work for my father at the moment. See you for practice tomorrow.”

“Bye.”

* * *

It took an additional three days before Kuroko managed to work up the courage to confess to his roommate and best friend. Kise Ryōta promised that Kuroko could move in with him if anything went wrong. Tetsuya hoped he wouldn’t have to take the blond up on his offer.

Kuroko waited on the couch in their living room with Nigō by his side. He didn’t spend much time reading anymore and he wanted to get back in the habit of it. The familiar click of the front door broke him out of his stupor. A smile slipped onto his lips when Kagami called out that he was home. He made to respond when he heard a distinctly feminine voice say:

“Sorry for the intrusion.”

Kuroko immediately pushed back into the cushions and erased his presence—poker face in place.

“I guess he’s not home. Go ahead and take a seat on the couch.”

“Thank you.”

The woman that stepped into the living room was small, smaller than Kuroko. She was skinny and didn’t have much muscle. Her face was round and it accentuated her large brown eyes. They were a lighter shade than her hair. The woman had on a blue cocktail dress that barely extended past her butt.

“Um, Kagami-kun. There’s someone sitting on your couch.”

“Huh?” Kagami stepped up behind her and made her look even smaller and more fragile. “Oh, you are home Kuroko.”

“Sorry, I was reading and didn’t hear you come in.”

“Do you have plans tonight? You can join us for dinner.”

“Who?” Tetsuya looked at the woman and tried to give a small smile.

“Oh, yeah. This is Inoue Himari, my girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend.” He repeated. It felt like he was punched in the gut. “I, uh, actually have plans that I’m running late for because of the book. I’ll just grab my things and get out of your way. I can take Nigō too, so that he won’t be a bother.”

“Uh, are you sure?”

“Yeah, no big deal. The people at the place of my plans love Nigō.”

“Right.”

Kuroko grabbed his wallet, phone, and keys off the coffee table. “Have fun tonight.”

“Thanks.”

“Nigō, come on.” The dog jumped off the couch and let his owner hook him up to the leash. Before he had the chance to push the front door open, he heard Inoue ask a question about the dog.

“Is that your dog?”

“It’s ours, together. Kind of. Probably more Kuroko’s. We got him during high school and our whole basketball team shared ownership.”

Kuroko tried not to slam the door behind him. It was _their_ dog. He thought that meant something more than this. He sunk down onto the floor of the hallway and Nigō nudged at him. Tears spilled down his cheeks and Tetsuya reached for his phone. He dialed the first number he could think of.

“Tetsu-kun? How are you?”

“Satsuki-san, I don’t know what to do.”

“What’s the matter?”

“Everything hurts.” He grabbed at the front of his shirt and pulled. It didn’t soothe the ache.

“Where are you? We’ll come find you.”

“I’m in front of my apartment.”

“If you’re there, do you want us to call Kagamin?”

“No, don’t, you can’t call him. Please.”

Satsuki moved away from the phone for a moment and her voice was muffled. “Alright, I understand. Dai-chan, please go start the car. We need to go rescue Tetsu-kun.”

“On it.”

“We’ll be there in a few minutes. Are you able to make it to the sidewalk?”

“Yeah.” Kuroko pushed himself up from the floor. Nigō helped nudge him forward.

“Do you need me to stay on the phone with you?”

“No, I’ll be fine.”

When he got to the side of the road it started raining. He looked up at the sky and wondered if his day planned on getting any worse. They stood on the curb for several minutes before Aomine’s sleek black car pulled up in front of them. Satsuki pushed the door open and threw her arms around Kuroko. He hugged her back and Aomine climbed out of the driver seat.

“Everything okay, Tetsu?”

“No.”

“You’re soaked, climb in the car. We’ll talk when we get back home.” She pushed her wet locks of pink hair behind her ear.

While Kuroko climbed in the car—Aomine had leather seats to protect from weather elements—Satsuki held Nigō’s leash. The dog climbed into the car after his owner and licked his face free of the rain and tears. Before the couple climbed back into the vehicle, Aomine pointed up to the apartment complex and Satsuki turned subtly to look. Kagami stood at the railing with a jacket and umbrella, but when he saw Aomine looking, he returned to the apartment.

“So, he was there.” She whispered. Daiki nodded and climbed into his seat.

“Do you want us to call anyone else over?” Satsuki turned around in her seat.

“I don’t want to brag about my misery.” Tetsuya laid across the backseat of the car and tried to fight off more tears.

“Alright.”

* * *

“Is your roommate okay?” Inoue asked Kagami once she’d taken a seat on the couch.

“He’s always been a little strange.” Taiga shrugged.

“No, I mean, he’s standing outside on the curb in the rain.” She pointed out the window. Kagami stepped up to the window to look out.

“What is that idiot doing? I’ll be right back.” Kagami grabbed Kuroko’s jacket off the rack by the door, slipped on his shoes, grabbed the umbrella, and ran out of the apartment. He made his way toward the stairs when he noticed the car pull up in front of his roommate. It looked like Aomine’s car and it was confirmed moments later when Satsuki darted out of the passenger seat and pulled Kuroko into a hug. Aomine climbed out of the driver’s side and both of them talked to Kuroko before the shadow climbed into the vehicle with Nigō. He saw Aomine make note of him on the apartment balcony and he turned back into the apartment with Kuroko’s things.

“He got picked up before you got there.” Inoue noted.

“Yeah. At least he’s out of the rain. Can’t have him sick for practice, Aida will kill him.”

“Well, now that we’re alone.” Inoue reached toward her boyfriend and pulled him in for a heated kiss.

“I thought that we’d eat first.”

“I’d rather be filled up by you,” she whispered into his ear.

“I can do that.”

* * *

“Why don’t you shower and warm up first. We don’t want you to get a cold.” Satsuki offered once they were back in the Aomine apartment. “I’ll dry off Nigō. Dai-chan, let him borrow some of your clothes.”

“On it. I’ll leave them on the bathroom counter. Go get clean.”

Aomine ruffled Kuroko’s wet hair and pushed him toward the bathroom. He stumbled down the hall and into the clean space. It was colored with a light blue and matching dark blue and medium pink towels. It was gorgeous, but Tetsuya couldn’t absorb anything but the colors in the room. He’d be fine as long as he saw nothing red at the present moment. He wanted to forget.

“Oh, no, Dai-chan, don’t take that towel. Give him this one.” Satsuki said from the hallway.

“Does the color really matter?”

“Kagami was there, we saw him, so yes. Give him the yellow one.”

_Satsuki-san is thoughtful_. The door opened.

“Clothes and towel on the counter, Tetsu.”

“Thank you, Aomine-kun.”

“We’ll be outside for you when you’re ready.”

Once he was out of the warm embrace of the shower, he found the yellow towel and wondered if Satsuki bought towels in the colors of the all of the Kiseki no Sedai. He was surprised they didn’t give him a light turquoise towel. Kuroko changed into the clothes, which were too big on his small frame, and walked out into the living room. Satsuki was on the floor with Nigō wrapped in a big black towel.

“Thank you for rescuing me.”

“So, did Kagamin take it badly when you told him?”

Nigō wiggled free from the towel and wandered over to his owner.

“I never got to that part. He came home and introduced me to his girlfriend.”

“Fuck,” Aomine placed a hand over his eyes and leaned back against the couch. “Girlfriend?”

“Yeah.” Tetsuya pursed his lips. “Her name is Inoue Himari.”

“Hate that bitch.” Satsuki said immediately. Both men looked at her in surprise. “What? I do. She’s the reason why Kagamin and Tetsu-kun aren’t together. I’m blaming her.”

“You haven’t met her.”

“She’s really pretty.” Kuroko brushed his hands over the top of his undercut and let them rest on the back of his neck. “She’s small and seems kind. She’s elegant too, which is Kagami’s type. There’s no way I can compete with her.”

“It won’t do much at first, but don’t pass to him at practice tomorrow. I’ll handle Aida.” Satsuki reached over and grasped Kuroko’s knee. “You can stay with us as long as you need.”

“Aren’t you and Aomine-kun trying to have a baby though?”

“We can hold off for a while to help you out. It’s no big deal, we’re still young.” The woman argued. Aomine’s left eyebrow shot up his forehead. “Okay, I can hold off. How about we plan a schedule and I’ll see if one of the other guys is willing to let you stay for a night or so.”

“You don’t have to. I can go back to my apartment and—” he broke off. “Hide.”

“Isn’t Kagamin too used to your presence by now?”

“Last week I managed to disappear for two hours and I was in the living room watching TV the entire time.”

“You can’t live like that, Tetsu.” Daiki argued. “It’s not healthy.”

A shadow settled across Kuroko’s face. “What if I’m hiding and they decide to do it?”

“Now you can’t think like that. There’s no way they’re at that step in their relationship yet.” Satsuki stroke his hair lightly. “In the meantime, I’ll talk to Akashi-kun. Maybe he knows someone we could line you up with.”

“I’d rather not date at all.” Kuroko mumbled.

“I’ll hold off until you’re ready. We’ll find you someone better than Kagamin in no time, trust me.” Her cellphone rang. “Ah it’s Ki-chan. Moshi moshi.”

“Hey Satsuki, do you know where Kurokocchi is?”

“He’s here at our place. Why?”

“Ah, I came over with some materials from coach, but nobody answered. I heard like sex noises coming from inside though so I thought they might’ve finally gotten together.”

Kuroko went entirely white.

“No, that’s probably Kagamin’s new girlfriend.”

“Since when the fuck has he had a girlfriend? I thought he and Kurokocchi would always end up together.”

“Tetsu-kun found out tonight.” Satsuki frowned. “You said you had materials from Riko-chan? Bring them over to us now and we’ll take Kagamin’s to him tomorrow.”

“Sure, see you in a bit Momoicchi.”

“Ki-chan! I’m not Momoi anymore, I’m Aomine.”

“You don’t want to be Aominecchi, don’t claim him.”

Satsuki laughed. “That’s true, I’d rather not be Ahomine.”

She winked at her husband.

“If you’re gonna make fun of me over the phone then don’t bother coming over. I will hurt you Kise.”

“Love you too, Aominecchi! See you in a bit.”

“I have to find a new place to live.” Kuroko said as soon as the phone call ended. “I can’t live there if I’m forever watching for when she comes over. I can’t force myself to stay there as they have sex. I can’t. I can’t do this with Kagami-kun anymore.”

“Tetsu,” Aomine started.

“I can’t. I just can’t. Hearing he had a girlfriend broke my heart and knowing that they had sex put the nail in my coffin. I’m never coming back from this.” His breathing pace increased. “How am I supposed to attend practice and act like everything is normal between us?”

“Like I said, I’ll cover Riko-chan.” Satsuki pulled Kuroko in for a deep hug. “We’re here for you Tetsu-kun.”

“Send your passes to everyone but Kagami, Tetsu. I’ll make sure I’m always open so that it isn’t too suspicious. We’ll get through this together.”

“Why do I always fall for the worst people?” Tetsuya pulled away from the hug. “And they’re always straight.”

“Who else were you in love with?” Aomine’s brows crinkled together. His wife and Kuroko levelled an identical annoyed look at him. “What?”

“It was obviously you, Dai-chan.” She turned to her phone. “I’m texting Akashi-kun so that he won’t worry.”

“I’m going to be the laughing stock at practice tomorrow.” Tears welled up in his eyes again.

“No, you won’t. Besides, Aomine will punch anyone that dares hurt you more.”

“Now you’re trying to get me kicked out of practice.”

“Hush, I need to think while I type.”

**To: Akashi Seijūrō**

**From: Satsuki**

**Kagamin got a girlfriend and they’re either having sex right now or they now have. Tetsu-kun is with us, but he’s heartbroken and can’t currently deal with Kagamin.**

The reply was almost immediate.

**From: Akashi**

**I’ll make sure Tetsuya remains on whatever practice team Taiga isn’t on.**

**Just let me know when I’m allowed to castrate him.**

Satsuki snorted.

**To: Akashi**

**I’ll ask Tetsu-kun when he wants to schedule that. Thank you for understanding.**

**From: Akashi**

**Tetsuya was a part of our family long before Taiga was. I will always protect him first.**

“What did Akashi say?” Kuroko’s voice was raw from crying.

“He wants to know what day you’d like to have Kagamin castrated.”

“Ideally? Tomorrow, but it won’t help anything.”

**To: Akashi**

**Tetsu-kun said you can castrate him tomorrow.**

**From: Akashi**

**Consider it done.**

Aomine laughed when she showed him the text. A knock on the door interrupted their quiet contemplation.

“That’ll be Ki-chan.”

“I’ll get the door.”

“Hey, how’s he doing?” Kise asked as soon as the door opened.

“He’s still with us.”

“I’m not dying.” Kuroko groaned and laid face down on the floor.

“You look dead, Kurokocchi.”

“Yeah, well, imagine how you’d feel if Kasamatsu came home with a cute girl on his arm.”

“Kagamicchi has turned our little shadow into a savage.”

“I’m not little.”

“He’s always been like that.” Aomine stretched himself out along the couch again. Kise took the singular arm chair nearest the door.

“What did you bring over for us from Aida-san?” Satsuki moved the conversation away from Kuroko’s torture.

“Just some game plans for upcoming matches. I’ve already delivered them to everyone else. Aida-san wants us to mark which ones we like the most.”

“Mark any of them that use me and Kagami-kun as a straight out ‘no’.”

“Akashi will defend that choice as well.” Satsuki sorted and organized the papers into neat piles for each of them. She threw the extra for Kagami onto the seat behind her.

“Does this mean I’ll get more of Kurokocchi’s passes tomorrow?”

“Sure.” Kuroko pushed himself off the floor so he could join them properly at the coffee table. “She’s changing our workout schedule too.”

“What’s Kagami’s schedule, we might have to contest it.” Satsuki grabbed the papers behind her. “Tetsu-kun, hand me your schedule and I’ll mark them up. On second thought, Dai-chan, give me yours too. I want you there to protect him.”

“I don’t need to be in witness protection.” Kuroko scowled.

“Oh, and I’m sure that you want to be in the gym at the same time as Kagamin. When his body is getting all sweaty and the water from his water bottle drips down his neck and then he pulls up his shirt to wipe it away—”

Tetsuya held up a hand. “I get the point, please stop.”

“Kurokocchi, you’re turned on.” Kise adjusted his papers to keep the shadow out of his line of sight.

“And I also feel like I’m going to throw up. Every time I think of him now, she pops into my head with him.”

“Is she really that great?”

“She’s pretty and in a higher league than I am.”

“Sorry Kurokocchi.” Kise licked his lips. “The offer still stands if you need a place to stay.”

“Thank you, Kise-kun. I’ll take all my options into consideration.”

* * *

Kagami lifted his hips and pushed back into Inoue at a different angle. She groaned and for a moment, he could’ve sworn he heard someone else make that noise. He supposed that Kuroko didn’t know that he was awake some of the times that he decided to relieve himself in the other bedroom. The walls were paper thin and he could hear everything—the pants, the moans, the cries for more—it didn’t bother him as much as he thought it would.

“Ah, it feels so good.” Inoue’s fingernails digging into his back brought Kagami back to the task at hand. He settled his face back down to her breast and pulled at the nipple with his teeth. She moaned and pulled at his head until they were swallowed in a deep kiss again.

When he pulled away from her and opened his eyes, a tanner and larger face flashed across his mind. Their large, oval shaped, blue eyes were filled with mirth and a smile rested on their lips—possibly in response to something he’d said. He shook his head and ducked in to press several kisses to Himari’s jaw and neck.

Kagami caught himself on his elbows as he came. Inoue wasn’t far behind him.

“That was the best I’ve had.” She whispered.

“Yeah, it was great.” Kagami rolled away and peeled off the condom. “Do you still want dinner?”

“Maybe after a short nap.”

“Alright, you sleep. I’ll work on food.”

“What a perfect boyfriend.” She whispered. “I’m jealous that your roommate had you to himself all this time.”

“Right.” Taiga coughed, the memory of seeing Kuroko during sex with his girlfriend still a shock. “Lucky.”

* * *

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Aida Riko pressed her hand over her mouth. “I’ve known you both since high school. I can’t believe this happened. I thought for sure—”

“We all did.” Satsuki agreed. “What we’re trying to do now is protect Tetsu-kun. He’s special to us and forcing him to work with Kagamin right now will only continue to mess up the team dynamic. I took these sheets over to Kagamin this morning because of what happened last night. He was kind of surprised, but didn’t seem to have much to say about them. We’ve made several changes to try and help Tetsu-kun cope.”

“I’ll help where I can. Right now, it is better to have Kuroko on teams where he isn’t forced to work with Kagami. It’ll keep our dynamic running smoothly—but I don’t know if I can promise it one-hundred percent of the time. Games tend to change and if I think that Kagami will tip the scale then I won’t hesitate to put him in.”

“I understand, coach.” Kuroko agreed. “I just don’t want to be around him more than I have to right now.”

“Which reminds me, Tetsuya,” Akashi Seijūrō put a hand on his shoulder and turned the blue haired male around. He pushed back his pinkish-red hair with a small clip. “I looked into some new apartments for you and compiled them based on amenities and cost. You don’t have to make any hasty decisions, but I think you should look through them. If Kagami plans on keeping this girlfriend around then you can’t stay with him.”

“Thank you, Akashi-kun.”

“I’ll see you tonight?” Kagami’s voice floated over to them from the main door. The group turned as one to see Kagami, shirtless, with a girl. Kuroko’s grip tightened on the basketball in his hands and they figured it was his new girlfriend.

“Yeah, go kick some ass at practice.” She pushed on him lightly.

“Always do.” He backed into the gym and everyone could see the angry, deep, red lines across his back. “Bye Inoue.”

“Bye, Taiga.” She winked and disappeared.

“I’ll be right back. I need to ignite pass my own head through the window.” Kuroko walked toward one of the other doors.

“Dai-chan, stop him!” Satsuki whispered furiously.

“Alright, Tetsu, calm down. You’re gonna be with me all day today.”

“Great, the other guy I was in love with.”

Aomine threw up his hands. “I can’t fucking help.”

Midorima Shintarō pushed his glasses up his nose and huffed. “I’ve known you for a long time Kuroko, but I didn’t know you were so weak willed. If we’re on a team together I can promise that we will completely crush him.”

“Shin-chan, you’re so supportive.” Takao Kazunari threw his arm up onto Midorima’s shoulder, even though he was several centimeters shorter and it accentuated their height difference.

“Kurokocchi, I’ll help you with stretches.”

“Yes, start warming up. Kagami, you’re late. I want twenty-five push-ups before you start warming up.” Riko blew her whistle and the group dispersed.

“Yes ma’am.” Kagami pulled on his shirt and wandered a little closer to Himuro Tatsuya. “Are her punishments getting worse?”

“I think that’s pretty fair.” The man said in reply. “Start repping.”

Kagami grumbled about his punishment the entire time. After about ten push-ups he caught a glimpse of Kuroko out of the corner of his eye. He had a half-hearted smile on his face and laughed at something that Aomine gestured wildly about. Takao joined in and even Murasakibara Atsushi appeared to crack a few of his own jokes (bag of chips in hand). After several minutes of warming up, Kuroko allowed both Satsuki and Kise to hang off him as they talked—his smile grew more and more genuine by the second.

Undeniably upset, with no real reason, Kagami finished his push-ups and own warm ups before he loomed up behind his shadow and their group. He’d never seen Kuroko flinch away faster or harder from him before. All of the miracles were quick to put space between them and Taiga didn’t have any clue why. He opened his mouth to say something, but he was interrupted by Coach Aida and her whistle.

“Gather round.” They obeyed as a group and Kagami didn’t fail to notice that Kuroko stood as far away from him as he could. He didn’t know if the action was on purpose. “Last night I had Kise deliver preliminary outlines for upcoming matches and a new training schedule for everyone. I know a couple of you didn’t get them until this morning, but it’s okay if you didn’t have time to review them. Satsuki-chan brought some new information to my attention this morning and it’ll affect how we play going forward. I’ll be doing some major reworking on the handouts with her during practice. I expect you to semi-manage yourself, but I’ve also asked our coach in training, Ogiwara Shigehiro to supervise the match.”

“Understood, coach.” They called out as a group.

“Good. The teams for today will be as follows—Team One: Midorima, Takao, Murasakibara, Aomine, and Kuroko. Team Two: Akashi, Kagami, Himuro, Nebuya, Kise. Team Three: Hayama, Iwamura, Sakurai, Kasamatsu, and Okamura. Team Four: Papa, Mibuchi, Kimura, Imayoshi, Liu. First match will be one versus three and two versus four. Go play.”

“Oi, Kuroko, how come you never came back home last night?” Kagami asked before the teams had a chance to part ways. Aomine immediately took a step closer to the shadow.

“It was one of those parties that goes all night.”

“You stayed up all night?” Kagami had a right to be skeptic—Tetsuya was always in bed by nine thirty.

“He crashed at the party and Satsuki and I took him back to our place. It was us who wanted to drag him out anyway.”

“Thanks for taking care of him, Aomine.” Kagami rubbed the back of his neck.

Aida blew her whistle. “Stop chatting and practice!”

“OSSU!”

* * *

“I still can’t believe that happened to Kuroko.”

“I know, Tetsu-kun is really cut up about it. You saw how he reacted earlier. I’m scared he’s going to hurt himself if we don’t keep an eye on him.”

Kagami stopped playing the game and was about to ask what was going on with Kuroko when he ran past the middle bench, but a shout from Akashi on his team brought him back. The ball came sailing for him and he charged into the middle. He was open for a steal, but Kuroko (now that they were facing team one) wasn’t anywhere near him. Aomine came up for the guard and he passed the ball back to Akashi. The shadow jumped onto the captain’s guard, but moments later he was on his ass. Seijūrō made the shot and took two points home.

“He didn’t try to steal the ball from me.” Kagami mumbled under his breath. Aomine glanced at him before returning to the game at hand.

After practice Akashi pulled Kuroko aside to hand him a stack of papers. He pointed out a few things throughout the stack and the blue haired man gave him a real smile. Kagami couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen that smile directed toward him in the last few weeks. He narrowed his eyes and tried to think of how much time he’d spent with his high school best friend since he first started dating Inoue. He couldn’t remember.

“Oi, Kuroko! You ready to go home?”

Tetsuya turned and for a moment Kagami saw a flash of fear cross his features. _That’s new_.

“Tetsu-kun!” Satsuki threw herself onto his friend like she used to during their high school years. Despite that she married Aomine three years ago, a flash of jealousy settled in his stomach for a moment. “Are you ready for movie night? You promised you’d come with us tonight, especially since Nigō is still at our house.”

“I picked out a foreign film for tonight since I know you like those.” Aomine pulled his wife off the man and ruffled the messy locks of blue hair on top of his head.

“Thank you, Aomine-kun.”

“Tetsu-kun, it’s hard to know who you’re referring to when you just use our last name.”

“But I call you Satsuki-san now.”

“You’re always so formal, Tetsu-kun.” Satsuki turned to her husband. “Dai-chan, what films did you pick out for tonight?”

He started to list them off and Kagami took that as his answer. Kuroko would be with the Aomine’s again, but it didn’t matter—he was supposed to meet his girlfriend. Taiga took their conversation as his cue to leave. As soon as he stepped out the door, he could’ve sworn he heard someone burst into tears, but he didn’t turn around.

* * *

“Sorry, I’m sorry.” Kuroko furiously wiped at the tears falling from his eyes.

“Tetsu,” Aomine pulled him into his chest.

“She was here. She was here.”

Arms wrapped around him from behind and lifted Kuroko into the air. He made a startled noise before he noticed that it was Murasakibara.

“Kurochin, something better will come around. Kagachin isn’t worth all of these tears.”

“Atsushi is right, Taiga isn’t a man worth crying over.” Himuro Tatsuya gently pulled Murasakibara’s arm down so that Kuroko wasn’t hanging in the air.

“We’ll take care of you tonight, Tetsu.” Aomine placed a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll go over those apartments that Akashi found and work on finding a new place for you to live.”

“And I’ll help you on moving day.” Kise raised a hand. “I bet Kasamatsu-senpai would help too.”

“Atsushi and I will help as well. Plus, I know how to handle Taiga if he acts weird.” Tatsuya pat Kuroko’s other shoulder. “We’re all here for you.”

“Thank you, all of you.”

* * *

“You do realize that moving out is going to cost you more money monthly, right?” Satsuki asked as she sorted through all the apartments that Akashi pulled up for him.

“Of course, but the extra eighty-thousand or so will be worth it.” Kuroko pulled one particular apartment from the pile. “I kind of like this one.”

Satsuki leaned over his shoulder.

“It’s not too expensive, allows pets. Furnished kitchen and a small balcony. One bed, one bath. One-fifty-two isn’t much money either. There’s a coffee shop across the street and it’s near a park.”

“Available immediately.” She pointed to the particular line.

“Let’s go with that one. I’m sure Akashi already had it inspected.” Aomine offered.

“What furniture do we need to move into the new place?” Satsuki pulled a blank sheet of paper from her notebook.

“Just the stuff in my room. There isn’t much, but the bed is big.”

“Did Kagamin buy all the furniture?”

“No, we split the cost evenly between us, but I don’t want any of it.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t use the TV and I don’t know what they’ve done to the furniture.” He waved a hand through the air.

“Ah,” Aomine nodded, “Understandable.”

“Oh, I have some books on the bookshelves in the living room.”

“I’ll go make a call in this apartment. Give me your credit card for a moment.” Satsuki put out her hand. Kuroko reached for his wallet and pulled the plastic free of one of the hidden pockets.

“Quick Satsuki, let’s flee to Korea!” Aomine proclaimed while he remained mostly stock still on the couch.

“At least let me flee with you.”

“How about you two flee together and I stay here?”

“That’d be quite the stick it to the man action that we need against Kagami at least.”

“What are you talking about?” Kuroko pushed all the apartment papers away from him.

“You running off with your old light.”

“Oh.”

“When you’re ready, I’ll help you sign up for gay dating sites.”

“I’d rather have your wife help me.”

“Rude.”

“Let me check with him.” Satsuki pulled the phone away from her face and turned to Kuroko. “You’re okay with living in Shibuya with potentially gay and lesbian neighbors?”

“No, I’m clearly a straight, cis male.” Kuroko rolled his eyes.

“We’ll take it.”

“Oh, that’s right, Shibuya is one of the seven cities in Japan that allows gay marriage, isn’t it?” Aomine glanced over to him.

“Yep. Downside is you have to be a resident of that city.”

“And now you will be.”

“Good things are happening all around. I can get married now, but I have no potential romantic interests.”

“Do the cliché romantic thing and meet someone at the coffee shop.” Satsuki offered. “You’ve got the apartment. I scheduled moving day for the next day that we are off practice, which is Sunday.”

“Wow, that’s soon.”

“The sooner the better if Kagamin is going to keep bringing his girlfriend home. Want us to come over tomorrow to help with some preliminary packing and be there in case Kagamin gets mad that you’re moving out?”

“Do you mind seeing if Akashi-kun is free too? I don’t care if he helps pack.”

“Sure Tetsu-kun, anything for you.” She ran her fingers over his cyan strands.

“I almost want to cry again.”

“I’ll tell everyone you watched a sad video about a dog.” Satsuki covered.

“Aomine-kun is lucky to have you.”

“Damn right he is.”

“If you brought an entourage to talk to me, it must be pretty serious.” Kagami joked as he served tea in the living room.

“Tetsu-kun, Dai-chan and I will get a head start in your bedroom.”

“Okay.”

Akashi remained firmly planted by Kuroko’s side.

“Bedroom? What’s going on?”

“Kagami-kun, I’m moving out.”

“You’re what? Why?” Kagami shot to his feet.

“I think it would be better if we live separately from each other.”

“But everything’s going fine. We’ve lived with each other for the past five years without any problems.”

“Things have changed. I’m going to be in the way if I keep living here.”

“You’re not—why would you think you’re in the way?”

“You have Inoue-san now. I’ll be in the way of you two if I’m here. I can’t keep staying over at Aomine-kun’s.”

“But we can—you can—”

“I don’t want to hear it Kagami-kun. It’ll be better if you have the place to yourself.”

“It’s not like it’s nothing new.”

“Yes, it is.”

Akashi put a hand on Kuroko’s shoulder to help him calm down.

“Please, it’s not like we haven’t heard each other masturbating before. It’s no different than that.”

Kuroko’s eyes blew wide. “You’ve heard me?”

“You—you haven’t heard?”

“Never.”

“Oh,” Kagami went quiet.

“I think it’s best if I leave.”

“I don’t want you to go Kuroko, I don’t know what it’s like to live without you here.”

“Then you’ll get to figure it out.” Tetsuya told him stubbornly.

“When are you moving?”

“Sunday. I have a new place in Shibuya that Akashi-kun helped me find.”

“Shibuya? You’ll be farther away from work.”

“Not by much. It’ll take twenty to twenty-five minutes depending on traffic. Not a big deal.”

“What about the furniture?”

“Keep it. I can buy new stuff for my apartment.”

“Kuroko, you don’t need to—”

“Taiga, Tetsuya already made these decisions on his own. Don’t make it more complicated.” Akashi spoke up quietly.

“I don’t want to just give up on our friendship.”

“That’s not what I’m doing.” Kuroko’s hands balled into fists. “I’m doing this for the both of us.”

“I don’t understand.” Kagami sat down on the edge of the couch. “I just want to understand why you chose to move out now.”

“We’re both moving on with our lives, that’s why. That’s all it is.”

“Okay.” He let out a heavy breath. “Okay.”

* * *

On Saturday, the basketball team showed up to help Kuroko move out of Kagami’s apartment. The red head mostly stayed out of their way, still upset about the development. The only piece of furniture that they had trouble with was the bed.

“I told you it was big.” Kuroko laughed.

“You could have an orgy on this thing, Tetsu.”

“Because that’s what I want.” Kuroko rolled his eyes.

“I could see if Kasamatsu-senpai is up for a threesome, Kurokocchi.”

“I would rather have sex with twenty strangers than do anything sexual with you, Kise-kun.”

“Ooh,” the whole group stepped back from the two.

“You’re so mean, Kurokocchi!”

“Hey, after we finish moving Tetsu-kun into his new apartment we should go to the coffee shop across the street.”

“Satsuki-san, I’m not going to have some coffee shop romance just because you want me to.”

“I’m not trying to set you up. I want to hang out as friends.” She threw up her hands. “Kagamin, are you coming with us to Tetsu-kun’s new place?”

“No, I’ll stay here. I have plans.”

“Okay. See you tomorrow!”

“Do we have everything?” Akashi looked around.

“Oh, the book I was reading this morning.” Kuroko grabbed it off the coffee table next to Kagami’s feet. “We should be good to go.”

“Yay moving day!” Riko and Satsuki cheered together.

“Neither of you have done anything.” Aomine looked at them.

“We’re moral support.”

“Coffee shop, coffee shop!” Satsuki cheered.

“What is it with you and coffee, Sachin?”

“I like whipped cream. Dai-chan never lets me have it.”

“Because you have a sugar high. I can’t keep up with you in that state.”

“He’s so cruel.”

The group marched out of the apartment with the last of Kuroko’s things and Kagami knew the space never felt this lonely or large.

* * *

The coffee shop was quaint, with couches and small booths instead of full tables with hard chairs. There was a small bar at the counter for guests, but hardly anyone used the space. Their group chose one of the couches to sit at since they were larger than most people expected in a coffee shop. They laughed about what happened when they moved things into the new apartment and ordered their coffee from a small waiter. Kuroko paid more attention to him when he delivered their drinks.

He wasn’t tall, shorter than Kuroko, and had black hair that faded into an ombré that was colored with a similar cyan to Tetsuya’s hair.

“I love your hair color,” the waiter complimented. “Where do you have it done?”

“It’s natural actually. My mom has the same color—weird genetics.” Kuroko laughed softly and took the drink he ordered.

“I’m Abe Michio, I haven’t seen you around here before. Visiting?”

“Kuroko Tetsuya. I actually just finished moving into an apartment across the street today.” He saw Satsuki smirking at him out of the corner of his eye. “These are my friends and co-workers I suppose. Some of them I’ve known since middle school. They helped me move.”

“It’s nice to meet all of you.” He bowed to them. “If you’d like Kuroko-san, I’d be willing to show you around Shibuya sometime. We can exchange contact details.”

“Sure. I’ll give you my Line ID.”

“Perfect.”

They exchanged contact details and Abe returned to his job. Satsuki sipped her drink and hummed lightly with a knowing smile.

“No, that’s not what this is.” Kuroko pointed at her. “It’s not. It’s not going to be a coffee shop romance.”

“Tell that to me after you go on your first date with him.”

“Aomine-kun, help me.”

“Sorry Tetsu, but he was totally flirting with you.”

“I hate you all.”

* * *

“So, what ended up happening last night?” Satsuki jumped on Kuroko as soon as he entered the gym for practice.

“Nothing. We texted on Line for a bit last night. Abe-san volunteered to show me around Shibuya on Wednesday night.”

“Hey, you got a date Tetsu.” Aomine pat him on the back.

“Date?” Kagami bent out of his stretches. “You met a girl?”

“Guy. And it’s not a date Aomine-kun.”

“Oh please. He’s showing you around the city—it’s totally a date, Tetsu-kun.”

“I’m inclined to agree with them, Tetsuya.” Akashi came up behind him. “He seemed to really like you last night. Free refills are most certainly not a normal offering at a coffee house.”

Kuroko shoved his hands into his pockets. “I turned the refills down though.”

“You are missing the point Kurokocchi. Plus, you guys looked cute together. You have the same hair color and he’s shorter than you. That’s got to be a rarity!”

Tetsuya jabbed Kise in the stomach. “He dyes his hair and it’s an ombré. His hair is black.”

“Yet, you stored all that useless information away about a waiter in a coffee shop.” Aomine rolled his eyes. “Have fun on your date on Wednesday. Make sure to tell us how it goes.”

“Remember to use protection, Tetsu-kun.”

“We’re not going to have sex!”

* * *

“Um, Kuroko?” Kagami approached his ex-roommate during the break.

“Yes Kagami-ku… Kagami-san?”

_San?_ Taiga decided to ignore it. “I was just kind of wondering, how long you’ve known that you’re—how long you’ve been—”

“Gay?”

“Yeah. I never knew.”

“Everyone else knew.” A frown deepened on his face.

“You didn’t answer the question.”

“Middle school.”

“That long and I never knew?”

“It’s not like I was hiding it. It’s pretty clear that I used to have a crush on Aomine-kun.”

“Aomine?”

“I didn’t realize you were this daft.”

“You’re telling me that everyone in the gym knows you’re gay?”

“Yes.”

“Can I ask them?”

“Sure?” Kuroko walked back into the gym. “You focus on weird issues.”

Before Kagami opened his mouth, Riko gathered the team into the middle.

“Coach,” Kuroko interrupted. “Can I take a moment to clear something up for Kagami-san?”

“I guess.”

“Everyone here knew that I am gay, correct?” He received varying positive responses. “And that in middle school I had a crush on Aomine-kun?”

The same response.

“Glad we’ve cleared that up.”

“You really didn’t know he was gay?” Riko put her hand on her hip and looked to Kagami for confirmation.

“I didn’t realize.”

“This explains so much.” Kise looked at Kuroko.

“Now that we have Kuroko’s sexuality sorted, let’s return to practice.” Riko sorted them into teams to run drills across the court.

* * *

Wednesday came faster than Kuroko thought it would. Their team was in the last quarter of their final practice game when a semi-familiar face popped into the gym.

“Oh, sorry. You’re still practicing.”

“Hey, Tetsu’s date is here.” Aomine called across the gym.

“Hi Abe-kun!” Satsuki waved to him.

The small man colored a bright pink. “Hello. I’ll just wait outside.”

“You can come watch if you want.” Riko invited. “Come sit with me on this bench and you can watch both games at the same time if you want.”

“I don’t want to intrude.”

“It’s no problem. They’ll keep playing since they’re in a game.” Satsuki dragged the small man over. He was a little shorter than the pink haired woman, around five centimeters.

“So, um, which game is Kuroko-kun in?” Abe went red.

“He’s playing with my husband Daiki, over there. He’s hard to see because he’s got a misdirection skill and he only touches the ball for a few seconds. He’s a passing specialist.”

“I don’t know much about basketball.” Abe admitted.

“That’s okay. You can ask questions and we’ll explain the game to you. I bet Tetsu-kun would also talk to you about it tonight if you ask.”

“How long have you known Kuroko-kun?”

“I’ve known Tetsu-kun since middle school. I used to have a crush on him, but it didn’t work out for obvious reasons.”

“I was his coach in high school.” Aida waved. “He scares you easily if you take your eyes off him.”

“Oh hey, Riko-chan, Tetsu-kun’s misdirection time length is faltering. It’s started falling back to shorter duration times in recent games. I compiled the stats and it’s a little concerning.”

“I’ll mention in the post practice wrap up.” She took the sheets of paper and looked over them. “Kagami’s points scored is also falling. That’s a little more concerning than Kuroko.”

“Tetsu-kun and Kagamin haven’t been on the same team lately either. I analyzed it and thought it might be the cause of it. Plus, he’s been matched up on games with Midorin as well and his shots reduce playing time.”

“You have a point Satsuki-chan.”

“Wow, you take a lot of stuff into consideration.” Abe commented.

“That’s why we’re the coaches.” Satsuki smiled at him. “You can come and watch practice anytime you want—so long as you and Tetsu-kun are kind of a thing anyway.”

“I’ll try my best to make that happen. His undercut really suits him.”

“It totally does. He got that cut last year. Do you want to see some pictures of him without it?”

“I don’t know if we’re to that part of the relationship yet.”

“It’s no big deal.” Satsuki pulled out her phone.

“Satsuki-san, please don’t show Abe-san embarrassing photos.” Kuroko appeared in front of them. He pulled the bottom hem of his shirt up to wipe the sweat off his face and their guest went red at the sight of the man’s smooth stomach.

“Aren’t you playing?” Riko chastised.

“Game’s over.” He pointed behind him. “We won of course.”

“That’s really great that you won. You must be a strong player.” Abe jumped off the bench and their twenty centimeters of height difference was extremely obvious.

Tetsuya rubbed the back of his neck. “Not really. It’s because we had Akashi-kun and Aomine-kun on our team.”

“How long have you known them?”

“Middle school. You ever heard of the Kiseki no Sedai?”

“I wasn’t into sports much in school, but I’d love if you’d tell me about it tonight.”

“Sure.”

“Alright, post practice meeting.” Riko called over to both games.

All of the sweaty men gathered around them in a circle and listened as the coach called off their most recent stats and what areas they needed to work on during the following sessions. Abe listened with his jaw slightly ajar. Not one of the players back talked their coach—he figured it was some kind of miracle.

“Hit the showers.” Aida dismissed.

“I’ll meet you out by the vehicles, okay?” Kuroko looked at Abe.

“Yeah. I’ll see you out there.”

* * *

“How did it go?” Satsuki and Riko crowded around Kuroko as soon as he entered the gym

“Did you kiss him?”

“What’d you guys talk about?”

“Are you going to see him again?”

“Don’t overwhelm him.” Akashi rolled his eyes. “Though we all are curious.”

“It went well. He’s a very nice guy and he’s attractive. Abe-kun is twenty centimeters shorter than me, which is a nice change of pace. We didn’t kiss. I’ll be seeing him again on Saturday. He also agreed to come watch our game next Monday evening.”

“I had hoped you’d at least kissed him.” Satsuki crossed her arms. She wiggled her eyebrows as something else clicked. “And you’re calling him Abe-kun now.”

“I don’t want to move too fast. Besides, you just want to see a successful coffee shop romance.”

She huffed.

“He’s about one-hundred and fifty-eight centimeters then, right?” Aida had a finger pressed to her lips as she thought.

“Yeah.”

“You have grown since high school.”

“Only ten centimeters. It’s not that much of a difference.”

“So, what are you doing on Saturday?” Kise pulled Kuroko over so they could stretch together.

“He wanted to see a new movie in the theatre and then we thought we might go to the park. Abe-kun wanted me to teach him how to play basketball. He doesn’t believe me that I’m terrible at shooting.”

“Yeah, well, nobody that hears that you’re a regular for the national basketball team would believe you can’t shoot.” Aomine folded his body in half to stretch his spine and thighs.

“I’m so happy for you, Tetsu-kun.”

“We’re not even dating,” he mumbled.

Kagami couldn’t figure out why he felt bitter knowing that Kuroko was potentially dating someone—the shadow should be happy. Kagami was happy, he had Inoue. Yet, there was something in his stomach that made him feel sick thinking about it.

* * *

“Do you have a preference on where we sit in the theatre?” Abe asked as they stood in lines for tickets to the R18+ romance film. Kuroko never had an interest in romances, particularly because they all featured straight couples and it didn’t do it for him most of the time, but Abe said he’d probably enjoy this one.

“Not really. I don’t go to the movies a lot.”

“Do you mind if I pick the seats then?”

“Go ahead.”

Abe picked seats at the back in the darkest part of the theatre. Kuroko was mildly surprised to find that no one else joined them in the theatre on their early Saturday morning. They were thirty minutes into the movie when Michio leaned over and wrapped his fingers through Tetsuya’s. He never knew that holding someone else’s hand could be so comfortable. Fifteen minutes later Abe took the initiative and kissed the shadow full on the mouth. Kuroko melted surprisingly quick into the kiss and he could feel the stimulation from their tongue’s travelling south.

“There’s something I need to confess to you.” Kuroko whispered.

“Yeah?”

“I’ve never had a boyfriend before. Every guy that I’ve liked that way had turned out to be straight.”

“That sucks.” Michio smiled. “I can promise that I’m a bona fide gay.”

“That’s perfect then.”

“Since we have the theatre to ourselves—would you mind if I gave you a blow job?”

“Eh?” Kuroko nearly jumped out of his seat.

“It’s my specialty and I want to put all of myself into this relationship with you. I’ve never felt anything like this before.”

“But a—a that here?”

“Sure. You don’t have to do anything, just sit back and enjoy.”

“I’ve just,” Tetsuya couldn’t figure out what to say.

“Obviously you’ve never done this kind of thing before—but your boyfriend is horny and wants to put out. What do you say?”

“I guess?”

“Great.” Abe placed a warm and open-mouthed kiss against his lips. Kuroko melted into the sensation and within a matter of moments, the shorter man had opened his pants and pulled out Tetsuya’s dick—the cotton underwear spread around it. Michio breathed on the tip and it twitched in his grasp. “Bigger than I expected.”

His mouth landed on it in the next moment and Kuroko slammed a hand over his mouth to stifle the pleasurable sounds that wanted to escape. He never knew that a blow job could feel like this—it was better than his hand by a long shot. When Abe pulled away the tip leaked pre-cum. The man pushed his tongue into the slit and licked like it was a lollypop. Tetsuya shoved his middle finger into his mouth and bit down hard.

Michio flattened his tongue against the underside of his cock and tasted him from base to tip. Kuroko moaned against his better judgement and his hips jerked up out of need. Abe pushed him back into the chair and took the whole length into his mouth. On his way up the shaft, he pushed the teeth on his upper jaw lightly into the skin and dragged. Kuroko never felt something as good as that on his member.

“Oh fuck,” he breathed when he had to come up for a momentary gasp of air.

Abe returned to his ministrations, but they didn’t last long. Kuroko came hard and fast into his mouth.

“I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay. I like swallowing—besides, it’s your first blow job. I doubted that you’d last long.” Michio flashed him a warm smile.

“Do you want me to help you with?” He gestured to Abe’s lower half.

“Oh, no, I kind of already—” Michio broke off.

“Right.”

“I’ll go clean up in the bathroom really fast, then what do you say we get out of here?”

“Sounds like a plan.” Kuroko tucked himself back away and stood to follow Abe out of the movie. He waited outside the bathroom until his new boyfriend was ready to leave.

They walked hand in hand out of the theatre and into the heart of Shibuya.

“You’re going to teach me how to play basketball, right?” Abe’s eyes lit up.

“I’m really not the best teacher.”

“I’m sure you’d be great. You look amazing when you play, even if I can’t see you most of the time.”

“Disappearing is what gets me on the court.” Kuroko leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to the top of Abe’s head.

“Oi, Tetsu!”

Kuroko’s eyes shot wide and he turned to look at the park a few steps ahead.

“Fuck no,” he whispered.

“Aren’t those your friends?” Michio tucked himself further into Tetsuya’s side.

“They are. They’re spying on our date.”

“They must really care about you.”

“Right now, I wish they didn’t.”

Abe laughed and shoved him away playfully. It took a moment for Kuroko to join in. They wandered over to the basketball court where the others were. In the back he saw Kagami and Inoue. He looked away quickly.

“I thought your movie would be longer, Tetsu-kun.” Satsuki greeted. He turned completely red.

“We got distracted.” Michio confessed without any kind of embarrassment.

“Wow. So, you gonna join us for a game, Tetsu?”

“Actually, Abe-kun wanted to learn how to play basketball. I kept trying to convince him that I’m not a good teacher.”

“Please don’t learn how to play from Kuroko,” multiple people said at once, with a few “Tetsu”s and “Tetsuya”s mixed in.

“Point proven.” Abe let go of his boyfriend. “Alright, so how do you play?”

“Oh, can I learn too?” The feminine voice from the other side of the court surprised them.

“You want to learn, Inoue?” Even Kagami sounded surprised.

“Yeah. You really like basketball and it’d be fun to understand what you do for a job.”

“We’ll teach both of you.” Satsuki told them with a tight smile.

“Commence the hugest my significant other is better than yours that we’ve ever seen.” Midorima mumbled where the four main parties wouldn’t hear. Akashi hid a laugh behind his hand.

“At least it isn’t a cock measuring competition.” Murasakibara pushed more chips into his mouth. “Kagamichin would win.”

“Yeah.” They all agreed.

“Well, let’s teach them to play basketball.”

“And maybe hopefully crush both of their souls while doing it.”

* * *

For the next two months, Kagami and Kuroko’s relationship continued to deteriorate as they competed silently as to who had the better relationship. Their actions started to piss the others off, but no one could talk to them about it. Akashi took a moment to step up and talk to Kuroko about the situation, but none of them knew what they talked about. Afterward the shadow was more subdued and didn’t talk to anyone expect Satsuki.

“You don’t really like me the way that I like you, do you?” Abe asked his boyfriend as they sat on the couch in Kuroko’s apartment.

“What?”

“I can tell your heart isn’t in this relationship. I love you and I want to build something with you—but you refuse to have sex with me. We’ve seen each other naked at this point, but I can tell you don’t look at me with the love that the others look at their partners. If you want me to stay because you want something real, then say something now.”

“I’m sorry.” Was all Kuroko could muster.

“It’s okay. I can tell you’re still hung up on Kagami-san. It was dumb of me to push myself on you when I knew. If you ever get over him, give me a call.”

Abe left and Tetsuya broke down into tears. He had the opportunity to get over Kagami, a straight male, after eight years and he couldn’t let go. He stood and walked to the small wine bottle rack on the counter that only held four bottles—one of which was vodka and another rum. He built himself a cocktail and took it to the couch where he drowned himself in mind numbing relief.

Around an hour later, he was four bottles deep in alcohol and needed more. He found a half-finished pack of beers in the fridge and downed them over the sink. Something settled in the pit of his stomach and Kuroko stumbled to the couch to lay down. He dug his phone from his pocket and dialed the second number on speed dial.

“Tetsu-kun?”

“I don’t feel so good.” He whispered into the receiver.

“What’s the matter?”

“Can you bring me alcohol? I ran out.”

“Ran out? Tetsu-kun, didn’t you have four almost full bottles of vodka, rum, and wine the last time I was at your house?”

“Drank ‘em. And the beers in the fridge. I need some more.”

“You drank four full bottles? Are you okay?”

“Abe-kun broke up with me because I don’t love him. I need some more drinks so I can forget this mess. He was perfectly great. Coffee shop romance. Why couldn’t I love him? Fuck.” He leaned over the side of the couch and wretched onto the floor. “I think I have Rice Wine in the fridge. I wonder how that tastes.”

“Tetsu-kun! You’re going to kill yourself. Stop drinking.” Satsuki sounded frantic on the other side.

“I need to forget. I need to forget everything. I want to forget the last eight years. I want it to all end, Satsuki-kun. Please let me end it.”

“Tetsu, you’re scaring Satsuki. What the hell is going on?” Aomine came on the line and Kuroko groaned.

“Aomine-kun.” He breathed out lowly. “Satsuki-kun said she’d bring me some alcohol. Four bottles weren’t enough to fix the pain in my chest. Maybe it’ll go away if I can drink enough to forget you too.”

“Akashi, call one-one-nine and send them to Tetsu’s place. I can’t figure out what’s going on—it sounds like he’s drank a lot.”

“I’m fine!” Kuroko protested. “I’m just trying to feel better and it’s not working. All I feel is sick.”

“Tetsu, stay on the phone with me. What happened?”

“Abe found out that I’m still in love with—with—you know. He left. I can’t even do one relationship right. It’d be so much better if the last eight years never happened.”

“They want to know how much he’s drank.” Akashi’s voice was quiet on the other side.

“Tetsu, how much have you had?”

“Nothing. Not much.”

“Tetsu.”

“Mmm, there were two bottles of wine. No, three, the Rice Wine for cooking was disgusting. The vodka was good, but it didn’t make me stop feeling things. People lie when they say that vodka helps you forget.”

“Was that it?”

“Nope, there was half a bottle of rum that really burned going down, but it made me feel worse. The three beers didn’t help either. I need more alcohol.”

“You need to stop drinking. We’re getting help for you Tetsu, just hold on.”

* * *

“Severe alcohol poisoning.” Midorima announced to the waiting room when he came back from Kuroko’s room at the hospital.

“Considering how much he drank, it’s not surprising.” Akashi kicked his legs up onto the small table in the center of the U of chairs.

“They’re keeping him overnight at least to make sure that it gets all out of his system without permanent damage.” Aomine shoved his hands into his pockets and dropped into one of the chairs.

“Three visitors at a time, he’s still unconscious.” Satsuki told them before she crawled into her husband’s lap on the small chair. “This is all my fault.”

“It’s not.” Aomine pulled his right hand free from his pocket and wrapped the arm around his wife to pull her into him. He pressed a quick kiss to the top of his head. “Tetsu is still in love with that straight idiot and it clearly affected him when Abe broke it off.”

“We’re heading back.” Akashi stood and waved for Murasakibara, and Kise to follow him into the hospital rooms.

“We’ll be out here.” Aomine turned is face to Midorima. “Did you tell Takao that you’re here?”

“He’s on his way.”

“I’m kind of glad that it was only us together when we got the call.” Satsuki rubbed at her arms to ward off the chill of the hospital. “I still feel like it’s my fault. I’m the one that told Tetsu-kun to date Abe-kun.”

“It was ultimately Tetsu’s decisions, Satsuki. He wanted to get over his feelings for Kagami and Abe appeared at the best moment for him to do that—directly after Kagami brought home a girlfriend. This will never be your fault.”

“Is Kuroko okay?” Kagami burst into the waiting room with Inoue hot on his heels. The trio were on their feet immediately in surprise.

“How’d you know he was here?” Aomine demanded.

“I was with Coach when she got the text.”

“That is actually my fault.” Satsuki whispered. “I had to tell her in case he couldn’t come to practice for a while. We had to call emergency services.”

“He’s alive, but there’s limited visitors.” Aomine pulled out his phone and sent a quick warning text to Akashi. If he could help it, Kagami would remain out of the room until Kuroko woke up. He only hoped the other wouldn’t protest too much.

A cellphone went off with a text and Midorima registered the tone as the one he labeled specifically for Takao.

“Himuro got lost apparently and Takao picked him up.”

“That reminds me of Kuroko’s sixteenth birthday.” Kagami sat down in a chair a few away from the miracles. “What happened to him tonight.”

The three shrugged. Kuroko should be the one to tell him.

“We just got a call that concerned us.” Satsuki offered. “Obviously we’re here so our concern was well placed.”

“What’d the doctors say?”

“Nothing much yet.” Midorima covered with a slight nod in Aomine’s direction.

“Minechin, Midochin, Akachin wants you in the room. The doctors said he might be waking up soon.”

“What about me?” Kagami was on his feet.

“Only three people in the room, Kagamicchi.” Kise flounced over to Satsuki. “Momocchi, I have cards. Do you want to play a game?”

“Why are you quoting a horror film in a hospital?” She slipped onto the floor to play cards with the blond while the others shuffled back to the secured area.

“Kagami wants to come back to see him.” Aomine stated when he walked into the single room where Kuroko laid out on the bed.

“I’m afraid I cannot allow that unless Tetsuya requests to see him.” Akashi leaned further back in the only arm chair in the room. “They said he should wake up in the next fifteen minutes. They’ve got most of the alcohol out of his system, but he’ll probably have to work out the rest on his own. There’s no permanent damage to his liver, luckily. I don’t think allowing him to live alone is the right choice currently.”

“Can I choose to live with Aomine-kun or you?” Kuroko mumbled sleepily. “Although, I think I could live with Midorima-kun too. If you put me with Kise-kun, I will kill a bitch.”

“How are you feeling, Tetsu?”

“I remember wanting to drink to forget everything that happened and then waking up to Akashi discussing my condition. Sadly, the only thing I forgot was last night instead of the last eight years.”

“You managed to drink yourself into a state of severe alcohol poisoning.” Midorima offered.

“Am I allowed to drink myself to death?”

“No.” Akashi stood from the seat and walked to the side of his bed. “We need you alive Tetsuya. What happened?”

“Abe-kun realized that I’m still in love with Kagami-san—kun—I don’t fucking know what honorific to use anymore. It doesn’t matter, he broke up with me last night.”

“So, you drank yourself into a stupid ass stupor in order to try and get rid of your feelings for Kagami.” Aomine summed up. “It’s a good thing you called Satsuki—you scared the hell out of her though.”

“Sorry.”

“I have to tell you,” Daiki paused, “Satsuki had to inform Aida what was happening. Kagami was with her when the text came through and he’s in the waiting room. You don’t have to see him if you don’t want to. We’ll keep him out by rotating three people in here from a closer group of people.”

“Is Inoue-san with him?”

“Yeah.” Midorima admitted softly.

“We’ll keep him out. He doesn’t know what happened either. We hedged around the facts even though we knew your diagnosis. Kagami has no idea.”

“That’s for the better.” Kuroko pushed himself back into the pillow.

“Once you’re discharged, you’ll come home with me. The others can create a distraction so we can slip you past Kagami.” Akashi decided. “I have two guest rooms in my apartment. What’s your lease like?”

“I only signed a three-month contract, so I’m a month short—but I can choose to not renew. Rent isn’t a problem with our salary.”

“Let’s use the next month to decide what you want to do.” Akashi moved to the door. “I’ll let Satsuki know she can come back. She was worried sick earlier.”

“What will you do?”

“See about signing your release papers so I can take you home.” He paused. “I’m texting Kōki to see if he’ll remove all the alcohol from my apartment to his.”

“Why does Furihata-kun have access to your apartment?”

Akashi didn’t dignify him with a response.

* * *

“Satsuki, Tetsuya is awake. You should go back and visit him.” Akashi announced.

“Is he okay?” Kagami was on his feet in seconds.

“Tetsuya is fine. You can go home if you’d like.”

“What was wrong with him? I’m not going home until I get some answers.” Kagami grew angrier by the second. Inoue placed a hand on his bicep to try and pull him back from the smaller male.

“I will ask you to restrain yourself or I will be forced to do something drastic. This is a hospital Taiga. I’ve told you that Tetsuya is fine. You can see him when he returns to practice.”

“You’ve been hiding him from me ever since he moved out—I could argue that you’ve kept him from me before then too. I’ve noticed the way that coach has consistently put us on different teams. From the way you’re all reacting, it’s like I’ve done something. I felt like I did something to drive him away from the beginning and I don’t know what I did wrong. He’s been my best friend ever since I came back to Japan from America, it’s been eight years. I can’t let go of our relationship now.”

“You and Tetsuya currently want different things.” Akashi said coolly. “As long as that remains true, the friends that he made first in middle school will be the ones that stand by his side. Perhaps you should use your time to analyze why he might be avoiding you or asking the source himself. Grilling those dedicated to protecting him is counterproductive because we won’t tell you anything.”

“Hey, how’s Kuroko?” Takao Kazunari interrupted as he arrived with Himuro Tatsuya. “Where’s Shin-chan?”

“Shintarō is with Tetsuya in his room. The latter is fine, I’m sure your boyfriend will fill you in later on the larger condition that put him here.”

“That’s how it is? All of you get to know and I don’t? We’re on the same team.” Kagami pulled his arm away from Inoue. “Kuroko is my partner.”

“And yet, he’s not.” Akashi turned his fiercest glare on the Ace. “I’ll meet up with the rest of you later.”

“Taiga-kun, we should go.” Himari tried to convince her boyfriend.

“It’s not fair. Just because you knew him for three years longer than me.”

“Taiga, stand down.” Himuro spoke quietly.

“Fuck.” He sat heavily in one of the chairs and Inoue gave a quick bow before she joined him in the seats.

“I’m going to head home, Taiga-kun.” Inoue pat his thigh and stood. “Call me when you get this figured out, or if you don’t. I have work tomorrow.”

“See you.”

“Come talk to me over here, Taiga.” Himuro gestured for the man to move to the farther away U waiting area. “What’s going on with you lately?”

“Kuroko is bothering me.”

“He hasn’t talked to you longer than necessary.”

“That’s what’s annoying me. He’s my best friend and I don’t know why he’s ignoring me.”

“When did he start ignoring you?”

“I don’t quite remember. The night I introduced him to Inoue he rushed out of the apartment and then was really quiet at practice the next day. Everyone was acting weird too.”

Himuro remembered the conversation they had at practice that morning with Kuroko, but he couldn’t tell Taiga what he said.

“He was surprised when I first introduced them and then I found out he’s gay and he started dating Abe. Where is that guy anyway? Shouldn’t he be worried about Kuroko being in the hospital?”

“I don’t know their full situation.” That line was honest.

“I want to see Kuroko and know what’s going on. I feel like I’m being forced to throw away eight years of friendship because he wants to. Don’t I get a say in this?”

“Sometimes one person takes control when they are scared or believe they will be safer.”

“Why wouldn’t he be safe with me? We’ve lived together for five years, Tatsuya. You know that.”

“Yes, but until a couple months ago you didn’t even know he was gay. I think you need to go over all of your conversations with him and consider why he wouldn’t want to be with you.”

Himuro stood up and made to move away, but Kagami’s hand on his wrist stopped him.

“Can I confess something else to you?”

“What is it?”

“It’s something I’m the most confused by.”

“Okay.” He returned to his seat.

“Every time I have sex with Inoue his face pops into my mind and for a moment, I find myself thinking that it’s actually with him. It doesn’t make any sense because I like Inoue.” He whispered lowly.

“Well, that’s something else you need to consider. Have you ever thought that maybe you aren’t as straight as you believed? If you’re thinking about having sex with Kuroko while doing it with someone else, then think about how you feel about the person. You need time to think Taiga. Take some time today to do that.” He pat Kagami on the shoulder and walked over to his boyfriend, Murasakibara.

“Mukkun, can you carry Tetsu-kun to Akashi-kun’s car?” Satsuki whispered. We’ve got the release papers, but he is having a hard time walking.”

“No problem.” The tall man walked back into the secured rooms and Kagami glanced over his shoulder to the group waiting by the main doors.

Several minutes later, Murasakibara ducked through the doorway with Kuroko wrapped around him. He had Aomine’s jacket over him to hide his head. Midorima, Akashi, and Aomine were close behind them. Takao leaned up into the green haired man to garner information.

When Murasakibara turned, Kagami caught a glimpse of a tired looking Kuroko. Their eyes met for a moment before Kagami broke it and looked away. He pushed his hair back from his face and fought the tears that wanted to fall.

* * *

“He looked sad.” Kuroko whispered as he was loaded into the passenger seat of Akashi’s car.

“Probably because Akachin put him in his place. Murochin says he talked with Kagachin and he has some things to think about tonight—or for the next while.”

“Taiga will come to you when he comes up with an answer, I’m sure.” Himuro smiled and swung the door shut.

“I’ll bring him to practice tomorrow, even if he doesn’t play.” Akashi announced.

“I’ll text Riko-chan.” Satsuki gave him a warm hug. “Thank you for taking care of Tetsu-kun.”

“That’s what friends are here for.” He returned the hug. “See you tomorrow.”

When they arrived at Akashi’s apartment, Furihata Kōki was still there collecting the bottles of alcohol into a box.

“I’ll never be trusted around drinks again, will I?” Kuroko fell into the arm rest and curled into a ball.

“No.” Akashi laughed and leaned into Furihata to explain the situation. The brunette laughed quietly and waved to Kuroko as he left with Seijūrō’s collection.

“So, why does Furihata have the key to your apartment?”

“Surely you can figure that out on your own.”

“Not only were the Kiseki no Sedai a miracle collection of people with extraordinary talent at the same middle school, but most of them were also gay as shit.”

“The Power Forwards have a bad habit of being straight.”

“Fuck PF’s.” Kuroko pressed his face into the couch.

“I’m sure you’d like to.”

* * *

Kagami sat on his couch in a dull stupor. Several pieces of paper were on the table in front of him from where he tried to riddle through where his relationship with Kuroko went wrong. Half an hour before, he came to the conclusion that the reason why the shadow stopped talking to him was because of Inoue. Not only was it Inoue, but Kagami stomped on his heart without a thought because he hadn’t realized that Tetsuya cared for him the same way that he did for Aomine back in middle school.

The rest of the team knew Kuroko was gay, which most likely meant they knew about his feelings for Kagami. The whole team rallied behind the shadow naturally because he sat on his feelings for the past seven years at least and the whole time Taiga never noticed. Instead of talking to his roommate about sane things like starting a relationship, he brought his girlfriend home and paraded her in front of Kuroko when the latter counted on a night with just them two.

Once he analyzed his own feelings, he wasn’t sure what he felt anymore. Kuroko was the most important person to him since high school, but he liked spending time with Inoue Himari. The hardest part was sex—because he always saw Kuroko’s face when they did it. It was never Himari in the moment and Kagami knew he fucked up.

He dialed his girlfriend’s number and listened to it ring three times before she picked up.

“Hey sweetheart, good news about your partner?”

“Not really, I still don’t know what’s going on.”

“Do you need me to come over?”

“No, well maybe. I can’t decide if I should tell you what I realized over the phone.”

“Ah, you finally figured out that you’re head over heels for Kuroko, didn’t you?”

“Did everyone know?” Kagami ran his hand over his face.

“It was pretty obvious. I was surprised that you’re dating me after I met him. I could tell how tense he was, but I really liked you.” She sighed. “I’m sorry for leading you on, but I enjoyed our time together. You’re a really good boyfriend. If you get things worked out with Kuroko, I’m sure the both of you will be happy together.”

“Thanks for understanding Inoue.”

“No problem.” He made to move the phone away, but was stopped by a sudden exclamation. “Oh! Kagami?”

“Yeah?”

“If you have sex with anyone else before you get together with Kuroko, please make sure you don’t accidently say his name during sex.”

“Did I do that?”

“Several times. It was kind of embarrassing and I didn’t want to mention it because the sex was good.”

“Sorry about that.”

“Well it’s over now. Hopefully the next time you do it you’ll say the right name to the right person. I’m sure that Kuroko still loves you.”

“Shit, I forgot he has Abe.”

“After you overcome his boyfriend hurdle.” She laughed. “Bye Kagami-san.”

* * *

“Kuroko, can I talk to you after practice today?” Kagami caught his shadow in the locker room the next day.

“I suppose I can’t avoid you forever.” His tone was quiet and Kagami nearly missed his words. “I’ll speak with you after practice.”

After they set a time, it felt like it would never come. Practice ran on forever and Taiga was a nervous wreck throughout the games and it showed in how he played. After practice, they sat on the short set of steps that led out of the back doors and Kagami was reminded of how much smaller Kuroko was than him, even if he grew since high school.

“Are you okay with telling me what happened at the hospital yesterday?”

“Severe alcohol poisoning.” Kuroko spun the water bottle in his hands. “Nothing serious. No permanent damage.”

“Nothing serious? Are you kidding me? You could’ve died.” Kagami glared at him.

“Yeah, well, alcohol was a great solution last night.”

“Why?”

“Abe-san broke up with me. I just wanted to forget everything.”

“Sorry to hear your relationship ended.” A weight dropped off Kagami’s heart and he wanted to reach out and hug Kuroko, but they hadn’t talked or had contact for months and it would be inappropriate. “If it makes you feel any better, Inoue and I broke up last night as well.”

“Sorry to hear about that.”

“I’m terrible at timing, but I can I ask you something else?”

Kuroko narrowed his eyes. “I guess.”

“Have you really been in love with me since high school?” Kagami watched his face for the subtle changes that indicated that his partner felt cornered.

“You’re being ridiculous.”

“Kuroko.” Taiga reached out for his arm.

Tetsuya yanked his arm away. “No. I wasn’t. I’m not. I can’t be.”

“I already know you are. Everyone else knows it too. They practically confirmed it last night.”

“I’m not. I swear I’m not. I can’t be.” He pressed his back up against the wall of the gym and wiped furiously at the tears leaking from his eyes.

“Why can’t you?” Kagami picked up on the repeated word.

“Because you’re fucking _straight_. That’s what always happens to me. I _can’t_ go through it again. I can’t, Kagami.”

The drop of an honorific surprised the power forward. He took a long moment to think and realized that the first person, he knew confirmed, that Kuroko liked was Aomine—who ended up with Momoi—a straight man. Kagami brought home Inoue and shattered his shadow’s trust because in the previous eight years, he’d fooled himself into thinking that he might still have a chance. Kagami turned away from Kuroko and placed his head into his hands.

“Let me tell you something then.”

Tetsuya didn’t say anything.

“I’ve only told Tatsuya this last night and Inoue already knew.”

“Get to the point, I’d like to go home.”

“I couldn’t get you out of my head whenever I had s—whenever I did it. According to my ex it didn’t stop at seeing your face. She said I called out your name too.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“I’m not as straight as I thought. I fooled myself into thinking I could have a relationship with someone else when I’ve already been in love with you for so long. I never realized it because our situation was comfortable and I didn’t process what happened between us because it was so natural.”

“So now you come to me claiming to be in love with me and wanting a relationship.” Kuroko sounded angry. “That’s a fucked-up thing to do, even for you.”

“I’m not lying to you.” Kagami whirled on him and the smaller male flinched away.

“I find that hard to believe. I’m going home.” Tetsuya spun on his heel and marched back into the gym toward the locker rooms.

“You could’ve chosen a better way to handle that.” Aomine leaned against the wall just inside the doorway.

“Fuck off.”

“But really? Picturing him during sex? It would’ve been better with him, I’m sure.”

“You think I don’t know that? Besides, why the hell do you think you can get off by lecturing me about him when you were his first love?”

“Because I love Tetsu. Not the way he ever wanted, but he’s my best friend. Satsuki and I have spent seven years consoling him about you. If helping him get over you and protecting him from your misplaced confessions is what he needs, then I’m there for him first. I want nothing more than for the both of you to have a functional relationship, but at this rate, that’s not going to happen.”

“Tell me how to fix this.”

“That’s something you and Tetsu have to work out for yourselves. A little advice for you: give him some time. You unloaded a lot of information on him today. Don’t push him.”

* * *

Kuroko sat on the single seater in Akashi’s living room without moving for three hours after practice. He didn’t say anything and he didn’t respond to any of the conversations that either Seijūrō or Furihata tried to initiate.

“Tetsuya, you need to eat. Now.” The captain commanded.

“What did he mean when he said he pictured having sex with me when he was doing it with Inoue?”

“He told you that?” Furihata nearly dropped the plate of cookies.

“He said he pushed his feelings onto her because he didn’t realize that there was something between us. What kind of bullshit is that?”

“I think you need time to consider what it means to you, not to him. But you need to eat, Tetsuya. We’re not sacrificing your health over a relationship.”

“Okay.” He let Seijūrō lead him to the kitchen table where they had a plate of food warmed from dinner two hours before.

* * *

Kuroko still loved Kagami. He couldn’t let go of those feelings, but he couldn’t figure out what the light stood to gain from telling him what he did. He couldn’t let go of the fact that he and Inoue went all the way. He’d never managed to go farther than hand jobs and blow jobs with Abe, which was also a possible factor into his leaving the relationship. Kuroko didn’t want to put out because he wasn’t the right person—but he also didn’t have the urge to do the same thing with Kagami in their current situation.

He sat out of the game for a moment and watched out of the corner of his eyes as the red head kept glancing at him for information on his feelings.

“Tetsuya, you’re rotating in again.” Akashi called to him.

“Okay.”

Playing the game gave him a little clarity. Kuroko didn’t want to jump into a relationship—he wanted Kagami to work for his trust. He wanted actions like they were getting to know each other. If Kagami was serious about dating him, then he expected romance and dumb dates that meant nothing other than showing that one person cared for the other.

He explained the situation to Kagami after practice.

“And you don’t get to ask me out right now because I asked for it. You need to plan something and then ask me on the date like you would anyone else. Eight years of knowing each other doesn’t override the need for a proper romance.”

“Okay.”

“And no kissing until the fifth date.” Kuroko decided on the spot. “Anything else I’ll decide later.”

“I understand.”

“You’re agreeing to my terms then.”

“Yes. I want to prove myself to you. I really like you Kuroko and I will do anything to make sure you feel okay about what’s happened between us.”

“Good.” Kuroko turned away before he said: “I expect a first-class experience then.”

“Agreed.”

* * *

Kagami decided that their first date would be a black-tie dinner at an upscale restaurant in downtown Tokyo. All of the Miracles gathered at Akashi’s apartment to see him off on his date and Kuroko felt like he had five sets of parents. The one that seemed the least interested in the event was Midorima, but Takao dragged him over to help threaten Kagami properly when Kise confronted him. Satsuki joined in, but Aomine stayed back since he’d already given the other his input.

They sat mostly in silence during the ride to the restaurant, but Kagami was the perfect gentleman that opened and closed Kuroko’s door for him.

During diner they discussed work and both of them made several jokes about dating for the money as though they didn’t know each other. Kuroko allowed Kagami to hold his hand as they left the restaurant for a walk around the park.

“I missed talking to you like this.” Kagami admitted softly.

“I missed my best friend.” Kuroko pulled the other’s arm closer to him, his free hand resting on the forearm and rested his head on Taiga’s bicep.

“Are you up for a movie on Saturday?”

“Are we going to a theatre?”

“I was thinking my apartment, unless you aren’t comfortable there.”

Kuroko was quiet for a long moment, but as he opened his mouth to say something, Kagami interrupted him.

“I’m getting all new furniture delivered on Friday.”

“Eh?”

“Well, I figured you might not be comfortable knowing Inoue was on the stuff you know.”

“Oh, that’s really thoughtful of you.” It had bugged Kuroko, but he hadn’t expected Kagami to be a step ahead of him. “I’ll come over on Saturday. Just remember that it’s still only our second date and we had an agreement.”

“I won’t try anything, I promise.” He held up his free hand in surrender. “Just a movie and snacks—maybe cuddling.”

“I’d like that.”

* * *

The couple were on their seventh date and despite Kuroko’s imposed rule about no kissing before the fifth date—Kagami hadn’t attempted to kiss Tetsuya and the shadow was growing more annoyed. He wanted to kiss his light and he figured that the other would follow the restrictions to a T—except he didn’t.

“Kagami-kun, can I ask you something?” They sat on a picnic blanket in a park near a large fountain with a homemade lunch courtesy of Kagami Taiga.

“Shoot.”

“Why haven’t you tried to kiss me?” Kuroko stared at his lap. “I know I imposed the five-date rule, but we’re on date seven and you haven’t tried.”

Kagami sighed and scratched the back of his neck. “I know you said that, but I didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.”

“That’s kind of you.” Kuroko felt embarrassed at the revelation.

“Kuroko, do you want me to kiss you?”

“You don’t have to. I was just curious.” He turned his head away to look at the fountain and missed Kagami’s low chuckle. Tetsuya was pulled backward into a hug and Kagami pressed a kiss to the crown of his head. The smaller man turned furiously red and touched the spot to savor the action.

“In the future, tell me what you want or I won’t know. I don’t want to scare you away.”

“I wouldn’t mind more kissing.” He mumbled.

“You got it. Let me know if it’s too much.” Kagami ruffled Kuroko’s hair and returned to his lunch.

Kuroko couldn’t define too much.

* * *

Before practice games every day at work, Kagami got in the habit of pressing a quick kiss to the top of Kuroko’s head and the shadow couldn’t help but be a little embarrassed and proud. Aomine loved to tease him about it, but he seemed happy that their relationship progressed, albeit slowly, into a more romantic area.

“Kagami-kun,” Kuroko placed a hand on Kagami’s cheek and pulled his face toward him as they sat on the couch in his apartment. “I really like you.”

“I like you too.”

Tetsuya pressed a soft kiss to his lips. “I’m glad this is finally happening.”

“I’m sorry it took me so long to realize.”

“We’re here now.” Kuroko sat up and crawled onto Kagami’s lap so he straddled the man’s larger thighs. He pushed in for a deeper kiss and let out a quiet moan of pleasure when Kagami’s tongue swept across the top of his mouth.

“I’ve never done it with a guy before.” Taiga whispered.

“Me either.”

“But, Abe?”

Tetsuya shook his head. “We never went that far. I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I do know how to give a hand job and blow job if you’re interested.”

“Fuck.” Kagami buried his face in Kuroko’s neck. “I don’t think my heart can handle it.”

“When I said slow, I didn’t mean this slow.” He ran his hands through the larger man’s hair. “I never realized how soft your hair is.”

“Can I make a request?”

“Sure.”

“How about we do it once I can say whole-heartedly that I love you.” Kagami pulled back to look him in the eyes.

“Okay.” Kuroko kissed him again. “Just try not to take too long.”

* * *

“Tatsuya, can I ask you some personal questions?” Kagami approached his pseudo older brother one night after practice when the team decided to visit a bar and hang out.

“What’s up Taiga?” Himuro moved over on his bench so the red head could sit next to him.

“How do two guys have sex?”

“Whoa, are you planning something with Kuroko?”

“Not really. He mentioned it the other day and I got scared because I don’t know how it’s done.”

“There’s a lot of different types. Hand jobs, blow jobs, frottage, penetration.”

“There is penetration with guys?”

“Of course, it’s just through the anus instead of a vagina. ‘Course you can do that with a woman too, but I doubt you would’ve.”

“You’re right about that.” Kagami’s face was furiously red.

“What’d he mention in order to get you thinking about this stuff?”

“It was just kind of normal conversation. I mean, we were alone and he offered. I brought up Abe and then Kuroko offered me a blow job because he learned some stuff from his ex, apparently.”

“Did you take him up on it?”

“No.” He held the vowel out and stared at the beer in his hands.

“You totally should have. Don’t pass those up when they’re offered.” Himuro smiled and took a smug sip of his Kir Royale.

“You’ve done _that_ then?”

“Of course, Atsushi and I have had a relationship since high school. Blow jobs are nice foreplay before penetration, particularly if you’re on the bottom—but others do it differently if they can manage more orgasms in a single night.”

“Maybe I don’t wanna talk about this.” He felt sick to his stomach thinking about Tatsuya in that position with the miracle’s resident giant.

“You wanted to know. There’s a lot of foreplay, especially before your first time since you have to get the person used to penetration. May be good to take more time than a single night for it too. It’s the same as how you prepare a woman, but on a man and you’ll need a lot more lube. Although that’s good to have with women too in case they don’t produce much of their own lubricant. You should already know that though.” Himuro smirked at him. “So, are you gonna plan it all out and have rose petals on the bed with candles or are you just gonna take him back your apartment and throw him on the bed?”

“I really haven’t thought about it much.”

“Well, knowing Kuroko with the birth of your recent relationship, you should probably plan something—but then again he offered you a blow job.” The shooting guard finished his drink and gestured for Kagami to move so he could get another. “Have fun.”

“Hey,” Kuroko appeared suddenly in front of him and Taiga jumped back. “It’s been a while since I got you with that.”

“You look a lot like a shadow in the low bar light.”

“Is that how you flirt with me?” Tetsuya leaned forward and realized he liked being taller than his boyfriend, even if it was temporary.

“If I call it flirting, do I get a kiss?”

The shadow pulled Kagami’s lips to his and tasted the plain beer when the kiss made its way past a simple peck. “You should drink better alcohol.”

“I’d rather taste what you had again from your mouth.”

“Mai Tai, I can get you one from the bar.”

Taiga shook his head. “When we _do it_ in the future, do you want to top or bottom?”

“Kagami-kun,” Kuroko was entirely red. “You shouldn’t talk so openly about it.”

“What’s your answer?” He pulled his boyfriend onto the bench next to him and wrapped his arm around his shoulders.

“I figured that I would probably bottom because you seem better at that kind of thing, but I could top if you want to.” Kuroko mumbled into Kagami’s shoulder.

“Well, what do you want to do. I want to make sure you’re comfortable—not what you thought would happen.”

Tetsuya turned impossibly redder and curled a hand into Kagami’s shirt. “I want you to top.”

Taiga’s face nearly matched the other’s in color. “Okay. Okay.”

Kuroko grabbed a quick kiss from his light’s lips before he disappeared to the bar for another drink.

* * *

Kagami never felt more embarrassed buying condoms from the konbini. Next to the selection was a smaller collection of lubricants and he had no clue which one to buy or how much to buy. He’d never used it with Inoue and he felt guilty that he hadn’t asked—but it didn’t matter now because this was with Kuroko and he didn’t want to fuck up.

In the end he texted Tatsuya with a picture of the options and an entirely red face as he waited for a response. His brother did take a moment to tease him, but he offered an opinion on several of the products with recommendations. He ended up buying a few different brands and was glad that the cashier acted like the purchase wasn’t out of the ordinary.

He was surprised to find Kuroko leaning against the railing outside his apartment when he arrived home that night. He had nowhere to hide his purchase.

“You stopped at the konbini?” Kuroko asked when his eyes alighted on the sack.

“Yeah, needed to pick a few things up.”

“What snacks did you get?”

“I didn’t get any.” He held the plastic handles a little tighter in hopes that his boyfriend wouldn’t pry any further as he fumbled the house keys with his left hand.

“Murasakibara-kun would be scandalized.” Tetsuya took the keys from Kagami’s hand. “I thought your left-hand handling was better than this.”

“It’s cold out.”

He hummed. “So, what did you buy?”

“It’s just some things.”

“It’s that much a secret?” Kuroko pushed off his shoes in the genkan and gave the usual “sorry for the intrusion” greeting.

“It’s more embarrassing than anything else.” He kept a tight hold on the bag. “Do you need dinner?”

“No, I ate with Aomine-kun and Satsuki-san earlier. Did you eat?”

“Grabbed a few burgers from Maji on the way home from work.” He set the sack on the counter and moved to the fridge. “Want a milkshake?”

“I have missed those.”

“I’ll make you one.”

Tetsuya made a hum of affirmation before his next words halted Kagami in his tracks. “Oh, so you are planning it all out.”

Taiga spun on his heel and found his boyfriend with one of the bottles of lube in his hand. Kagami spluttered, but he couldn’t come up with any explanation.

“Can you wait to make the milkshake?”

“Huh?”

“I wanna try this one.” Kuroko showed him the bottle and his face turned impossibly redder than his hair.

“Right now?”

“Only if you want to. We can keep waiting.” The shadow pulled out the bar stool at the counter and looked at the other things in the sack. For a moment the light could’ve sworn he saw a blush cross Kuroko’s face when he spotted the condoms.

“I—yeah, let’s try it out. Just preparation stuff.”

“You’re serious?”

“Weren’t you?”

“Of course, but I didn’t think you’d agree, even with this stuff.” Tetsuya placed the bottle back in the sack.

“I think it was more embarrassing to buy it, honestly.”

“How pure.” Kuroko leaned into his hand and watched Kagami put away the ingredients for his milkshake.

“Couldn’t I say the same thing about you?”

“Of course.”

Kagami ducked in for a warm kiss against Kuroko’s lips across the counter. “Are you more comfortable on the bed?”

Kuroko chased his lips across the counter.

“Probably.” He whispered.

“In that case,” Kagami linked his pointer finger through the handles on the sack and it crinkled as he picked it up. “We ought to move there.”

“Unexpectedly forward.”

“And somehow you’re the one that asked for it.” Kagami’s dark eyes settled on Kuroko’s and set his body on fire.

“I never expect you to agree—because of the whole, you had a girlfriend a few months ago, thing.” He slid off the stool and stepped to the end of the counter. Kagami placed a hand on his shoulder and shoved him back toward the bedrooms. It was only a few moments before they entered Taiga’s room and the quiet awkwardness returned. Swallowing hard, the red head threw the sack onto the bed and looked at his smaller companion. Tetsuya headed immediately for the bed and climbed eagerly onto the high mattress. He knelt on the bed and reached out for his boyfriend to pull him into a warm kiss.

Kagami fell into the kiss and his hands landed on Kuroko’s waist. Their bodies settled flush against each other and Kuroko opened his mouth when Taiga’s tongue fell against his lips and pushed for more. The smaller man drifted back and kept his boyfriend interested with lazy sucks and nibbles on the intruding muscle. It drew out small moans of satisfaction and after a few minutes they were laid on the bed. Kagami fell naturally between Kuroko’s thighs which opened, perhaps a little too quickly, before he wrapped his legs in a tight hold around the other’s middle and pulled him ever closer.

Taiga moved away from Tetsuya’s mouth and pressed open-mouthed kisses against the shadow’s neck. Kuroko’s back arched and his hips jumped up in a light thrust and collided with the ace’s hard cock through their jeans. A guttural sound escaped Kagami’s throat and they stared at each for a long moment before there was a rush to remove each other’s clothing. Shirts came off first and the red heads mouth immediately laid waste to Kuroko’s chest as the latter clutched at his back and left scorching red marks from his shoulders to his waist. They couldn’t stand to part, but they managed to get their pants off, left in only their boxers in front of each other. Kagami rolled onto his back and Tetsuya landed on him with a surprised _huff_.

“It—it’s probably easier this way for now.” Kagami stumbled out.

“Don’t care.” Kuroko pressed their mouths back together in a needy kiss which turned into soft moans and grunts of approval when Kagami’s fingers kneaded into his ass. “Eight years of imagining this scenario and the real thing is much better.”

“I’m sorry I made you wait so long.”

“We’re here now.” Kuroko leaned over Kagami and reached for the sack from the konbini. He grabbed at the bottle before he pressed it into Taiga’s hand. “You just have to make it up to me.”

The ace swallowed hard before he sat up and struggled to open the bottle. “I’ll do my best.”

“That’s all I’m asking for.”

They pushed at each other’s clothes and helped undress until the point where they were both in their boxers. Kuroko pressed his smaller build up against Kagami’s growing erection and the latter’s hands pushed into Tetsuya’s boxers. He gripped the toned mounds of his boyfriend’s ass before pushing the underwear down to the other’s thighs and fumbled around for the bottle of lube. The shadow watched as Kagami spread the substance across his hands to warm it up. When he reached back and pressed a finger into the cleft of Tetsuya’s ass, the smaller man gasped in surprise. It was different, but not unpleasant—until Taiga reached the penetration point. It was a strange situation, one that he couldn’t fully process.

“You okay?”

“It’s just—different.” Kuroko leaned forward and braced himself on his forearms across Kagami’s chest. He laughed. “That’s what everyone says though.”

“Is it?”

“You really haven’t look up much online, have you?”

Taiga flushed red. “No—just enough to know kind of what to do here.”

He wiggled his index finger and Kuroko pressed a surprised, hot kiss to Kagami’s pectoral. “The moments of pleasure certainly outweigh the adjustment.”

“I’m glad.” Taiga pushed his index finger in farther and at the same time, pressed against Tetsuya’s tailbone with his free hand. The shadow gasped and arched his back—their erections pressed flush against each other.

“Fuck,” the smaller swore and thrust his hips forward again to increase the friction. One of Kuroko’s hands abandoned holding himself up and came to wrap around their cocks together. The pair let out simultaneous moans of pleasure which caused a peal of laughter quickly swallowed by one of the most heated kisses in their lives.

Kagami took his time to pump his finger in and out of Kuroko’s ass at the same rate that their cocks rubbed against each other with each thrust. His tongue ran lazy patterns over the smaller boys and before they knew it, Kagami was on top, pressing Tetsuya down into the mattress. Kuroko wrapped his legs around Taiga’s waist and thrust up in a lazy haze of pleasure. After several minutes of slow enjoyment, the ace pressed another finger to the rim of his boyfriend’s ass and he curled them on instinct. Kuroko pulled away with a sharp gasp, arched his back, and came across both their stomachs. They stared at each other in surprise for a long moment.

“Your prostate,” Kagami licked his lips.

“That felt good, really good.”

“Yeah?”

“But you haven’t come yet,” the shadow wiggled under him until his hands came free from their cocks. “I’ll help you take care of it.”

“You don’t have to—” he was cut off by the sudden show of strength when Tetsuya rolled them back over and squirmed down until his lips landed on the large cock previously in his hand.

“Fucking hell,” Kagami bucked up without thinking and Kuroko spluttered a little at the press against his throat. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry—I’m glad you’re turned on. I’d be insulted if you weren’t aroused by me after such kind declarations previously.” He pressed his tongue into the slit at the head and Taiga gripped the sheets to keep himself from thrusting up again.

“Es twa beesh.” Kuroko mumbled as he sucked at the tip.

“Don’t fucking talk,” he moaned.

“How uncouth of you, Kagami-kun.” Tetsuya pressed his thumb against the base of the taller man’s cock and watched it jump in front of him before he gave a long slow lick—like a melting popsicle—ended with a firm suck at the head. He dipped his head down and took as much of the length he could, his fingers pushed onto the rest, before he pulled back and started it all over again.

It was only a matter of minutes before Kuroko was being forcefully pulled back by Kagami’s fingers in his hair moments before the red head came. The blue haired man was pulled up into a warm and languid kiss that ended with sticky cuddling in bed.

“We should clean up and eat dinner.”

Tetsuya hummed and leaned in for several soft pecks across his lips and jaw. “You haven’t left a hickey on me yet to prove we did something.”

“You want to have proof?”

“I want to brag.” Kuroko dipped his face around to Kagami’s neck and started to suck and bite at the skin just below his jawline and ear. “Show off that I got something really nice from my boyfriend. Let others know you’re mine and that I’m yours.”

“Mmm, I can give you some marks.”

“Oh?” Kuroko teased moments before Kagami’s teeth sunk into his collarbone. He didn’t draw blood, but it was sharp and biting and nearly brought tears to his eyes—but it also made his dick jump to attention. A few deep bites and legitimate hickeys later, Kuroko came across their chests and surprised Taiga who was too caught up in his task to notice the shadow’s reaction.

“How’s your ass?” He decided to ignore the second ejaculation in favor of massaging the cheeks in his palms.

“Looser and sore.”

“We have time to get you used to it.”

“Tomorrow I want three fingers.”

“We’ll see.”

* * *

Their sexual exploits led to them adventuring more and more at different times—long languid kisses before practice; nights of hand and blow jobs while watching a movie or just before bed; fingering in the shower after practice when the locker room emptied—it was moments that helped them build naturally into a more romantic relationship that festered under the surface for eight years.

Satsuki glowed with happiness every time she saw them doing something even slightly romantic during official practice sessions. She hung off Tetsuya a little more often, like back in middle school and high school, but she did it just to see Kagami take several steps away from his conversations to save his boyfriend from her. She would giggle and flaunt back to Aomine who still watched Kagami with hesitancy. Occasionally, the dark-skinned man would find himself holding Kuroko back from his boyfriend until the red head clearly showed his annoyance and snatched him away for an evening of long cuddles and drawn out kisses.

“Tetsu, I’m still worried that Kagami will hurt you again—in the future.” Aomine admitted lowly one night during a movie meetup for the Kiseki no Sedai and their significant others. Kagami was in the kitchen with Himuro cooking snacks for them, and Satsuki was with them arguing about whether or not she was capable of helping in the kitchen.

“What do you mean? Kagami-kun isn’t the type of person to cheat on anyone. Of course, we’ll have arguments, all couples do—but—” he hesitated, “is there something you know that I don’t?”

Aomine shook his head. “It’s not that.”

“I believe Daiki is worried about you as an older brother would about their younger siblings.” Akashi input from the side. Furihata lightly napped against his shoulder, tired from a long day at work. “We’re all a little concerned about the pace of the relationship and the way you both accepted that you have feelings for each other after everything that happened with other potential romantic partners.”

“Akashi has a point.” Takao joined in. “One of the biggest issues in any relationship, I think, is the possibility that a breakup might happen in the future and one party may be hurt more than the other.”

“After the amount of years, you and Kagamicchi spent together, a breakup is a scary aspect for even us to consider, but we already picked up the pieces once after Abe. We don’t want to lose one of our close friends, Kurokocchi.”

“While you guys may consider a breakup to be either inevitable or a scary possibility when things don’t go right, and I understand your concerns, right now I want to face that bridge _if_ Kagami-kun and I come to it.” Kuroko frowned deeply and tried to push himself further into the couch cushions. “We’re still living separately for the record, and whether we’re moving too fast or not is our business. I appreciate that you all care for me, but our relationship needs a little breathing room too if it will ever have a chance.”

“Kurochin has a point.” Murasakibara reached down to the konbini sack at his feet and pulled out a fresh box of maribō. “I’d do anything for one of my middle school friends, but it would feel stifling if I had all of you watching every step in my relationship with Murochin on the off chance that he decided that he no longer wanted to be with me.”

Tears welled up in the giant’s eyes suddenly and everyone shared a startled look.

“I don’t even want to think about Murochin leaving me.”

“Kasamatsu-senpai, you’re not leaving me either, right?” Kise turned suddenly to his boyfriend absorbed in a handheld videogame.

“Huh? Who brought that up? That’s a depressing topic. If I tried to leave you, you’d cry and I don’t like seeing you cry. Plus, I told you to stop calling me senpai!”

“Senpai!” Ryōta burst into tears and threw his arms around his smaller boyfriend’s waist.

“What the fuck did I just tell you, you big crybaby?”

“Atsushi? What’s wrong?” Himuro asked as soon as he walked into the living room with a plate of snacks.

“Everyone was talking about breakups like they’re inevitable. I don’t wanna break up with Murochin.”

“Hey, we’re not going to do anything of the sort. Remember? We have plans to either move to Edogawa or Los Angeles once we retire from basketball. That’s where we’re heading right now, to fulfill those plans. Let’s all stop talking about breakups, yeah?”

Everyone nodded in solemnity.

“Where do you wanna move when we retire?” Takao focused on Midorima’s stone face as he stared at the blank TV.

“I was thinking Nakano, since we want to stay in Tokyo. Unless, you don’t want to?”

“Nakano is a nice city.” The hawk eye smiled. “We can talk more about it later.”

The frown remained on Kuroko’s face for the rest of the night, even when Kagami settled into the couch next to him and put his arm around the smaller man. He was unaware of the discussion, but still comforting when he realized the shadow was upset by a mysterious catalyst. He spent the night pressing occasional kisses to the top of Kuroko’s head when he thought everyone else was focused on the movie.

“What’s wrong?” He turned on his boyfriend as soon as the night was over and they were alone in the taxi back to Kuroko’s place.

“Aomine-kun is worried about the state of our relationship and the others expressed similar concerns—they’ve deeply considered the possibility that we might break up in the future.”

“That’s ridiculous. The only people that need to worry about that turn of events is us. I’m not scared of me breaking up with you—to be honest, I thought a few times about what I’d do if you decided you no longer wanted to be with me.”

“But I do want to be with you!” Kuroko grabbed his arm and dug crescent shaped marks into the tan skin. “After waiting eight years, I finally get to be with you this way. It’s exciting and I never want it to end.”

“The whole eight years thing is what scares me.” Taiga admitted quietly. “I want to live up to your expectations, but I don’t know if I can. If you suddenly decide that I’m not right for you, I don’t think I’d ever get over it.”

“If it’s any consolation, you’ve been exceeding all my expectations thus far.”

“That,” he grinned, “that does wonders actually.”

Kagami pulled Kuroko in for a soft kiss as they pulled up outside the latter’s apartment.

“Kagami-kun,” the shadow whispered.

“What?”

“I think I’m ready for the next step in our relationship.”

“Yeah?”

“Definitely.”

They walked hand in hand up to Kuroko’s apartment. They didn’t know what would become of their relationship three months from now, let alone another five to ten years. They did know, however, that whatever came they’d handle it together.

**Author's Note:**

> I thought about adding another sex scene, but when I got the end, I was like, anymore would really be overkill. It just felt like the perfect ending to this story. The promise of a future.


End file.
